The Progress Theory

“It depends”

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With a book 📕 and a new season 🎧of coming out in 2024 I though I’d re-introduce myself to new followers and listeners.

I’m and I’m the host of The Progress Theory Podcast

I have a PhD in bioengineering. My research interests are on hybrid training and exercise countermeasures for training astronauts while in zero gravity

I am now the course lead for the MSc in Strength and Conditioning (distance learning) at St Mary’s University

I teach Strength and Conditioning and biomechanics at St Mary’s, ranging from undergraduate to PhD level. I’ve been teaching at St Mary’s for 14 years.

I’m a consultant at where I’m involved with the development of education material and seminars.

I love experimenting with training, reading, writing and outdoor adventures with my family

I’m really looking forward to 2024 as the new episodes and book are 🔥🔥🔥🔥

What are you most looking forward to in 2024?

🎙New episode🎙 testing and physiological profiling for CrossFit athletes - with Sean Seale

Sean is the host of Upside Strength, an amazing resource which includes a podcast, educational seminars and an awesome youtube channel.

Through his podcast he has investigated different physiological concepts and their application to endurance training and crossfit, and it has been awesome to hear his journey learning new ideas, putting them into practise and formulating his own approach to training, testing and monitoring.

In this episode we discuss his physiological approach to testing crossfit athletes and determining training intensity zones, and the importance of low intensity training for aerobic adaptations.

● Upside Strength & introduction to Sean Seale

● The change to a physiological focus

● Physiological testing protocols

● Physiological changes from training

● Determining intensity zones using critical power and lactate threshold

● Testing with minimal equipment

● Maintaining power output during tests

● How best to find critical power

● The importance of low intensity training for Crossfit

● Any differences between hybrid athletes and Crossfit athletes?

● Lactate and fat oxidation in Crossfitters

● Recommendations

For the full episode click the link in bio

Have you caught up with all the episodes of season 5 on hybrid training?

There’s no new episode this week as we’re currently recording new episodes (some awesome guests are on the way)

So now is the time to catch up on those episodes or revisit your favourite ones

How has the helped bring new ideas to your training?

The importance of refuelling between session for hybrid training 🍗

Swipe to find out more

If consuming protein and resistance training activates the mTOR molecular pathway, then we need to consume the right foods at the right time to maximise adaptations.

The mTOR pathway can stay activated for up to 18 hours, but if you have an endurance session 6 hours post resistance training, then we need to fully take of advantage of the time between sessions to refuel and maximise strength adaptations in case of any interference from the second session.

What are the common mistakes athletes make when starting hybrid programming?

Check out this video where discusses mistakes people make when trying to combine strength and endurance training

For the full episode click the link in bio

🎙NEW EPISODE🎙 how to maximise hybrid athlete programming - with

It’s easier to understand programming for strength and endurance sports individually, but hybrid programming is more complex and that’s what makes it so exciting.

But what are the best hybrid programming recommendations?

In this episode, Alec discusses his journey into Hybrid training, his current goals and what he has learnt along the way.

We also discuss key themes such as how to dissect your hybrid goals so you know what to programme and how to balance your strength and endurance training

In this episode, we discuss:

● Training for Murph

● Partitioned vs unpartitioned Murph

● Getting into hybrid training

● How far can Hybrid performance go

● Common mistakes in hybrid training

● Long-term Hybrid programming

● Progressing slowly in a hybrid programme

● Use of RPE or RIR for both strength and endurance training

● Using objective and subjective data to monitor training

● Training goals after Murph

● The Crucible

● The effect of mass on running performance

● Advice for those new to Hybrid Training

For the full episode click the link in bio

Huge shout out to our production team .media

And our awesome sponsors

🎙New episode 🎙- The importance of protein for hybrid training - with Dr Tyler Churchward-Venne

There is a lot of training involved in a hybrid programme, so in order to make sure we are recovering between sessions to reduce the negative effects of residual fatigue or reduced protein synthesis, we need to make sure our nutrition is optimsed.

In this episode, Dr Churchward-Venne and discuss why protein is so important for a hybrid athlete, what the difference is between myofibrillar and mitochondrial protein synthesis, and what the best protein sources are for improving recovery and aiding athletic performance.

We discuss:
● Insects as a protein source

● Insect protein in the market and in our culture

● An introduction to Dr Tyler Chruchward-Venne

● Going into the field of protein metabolism and hybrid training

● What are high quality proteins?

● What is a low quality course of protein?

● The importance of leucine

● Can more protein reduce the molecular interference effect?

● The differences between myofibrillar and mitochondrial protein synthesis?

● Carbohydrates for hybrid athletes

● Acute studies measuring protein synthesis

● Protein Recommendations for hybrid training

For the full episode click the link in bio

🎙New Episode🎙 - The physiology of hybrid performance and CrossFit athletes - with

What does the physiology of a hybrid athlete look like?

We can understand the physiology of individual strength and endurance sports, and through this series of the Progress Theory we also know how strength training can have a positive effect on, for example, running performance through improved running economy.

But physiologically, can the two co-exist?

In this episode, Evan and I discuss the role of the cardiovascular system for hybrid training, the effect of muscle
size on endurance performance, and have a go at predicting how far hybrid performance can go

we discuss:

● Working at Crossfit Think Tank

● The Crossfit athlete, mitochondrial density and the dilation of blood vessels

● Arterial blood pressure and cardiac output

● The influence of genetics

● The difference between Crossfit athletes and Hybrid athletes

● Physiological ceilings

● VO2max in elite crossfit athletes

● Critical metabolic rate, muscle relations and respiratory endurance

● The use of NIRS

● Body position, skeletal muscle pump and gene expression.

● The development of exercise science

● Hybrid training advice for coaches

● Understanding recovery/aerobic base training

● What’s the future potential for the hybrid athlete?

● Can being elite in one sport affect being a good hybrid athlete?

Click the link in bio for the full episode

🎙NEW EPISODE 🎙 The effect of Hybrid training on Endurance performance - with Dr Kenji Doma

Usually, whenever people think of the interference effect during hybrid training they think about how endurance training inhibits the strength and hypertrophy adaptations from strength training.

The research support for strength training enhancing endurance performance is quite clear, but are there examples of how strength training can negatively affect endurance performance?

In this episode Dr Doma and discuss the mechanisms which can inhibit endurance performance and adaptation during hybrid training, how we can programme to avoid this, and what the common mistakes people make when hybrid training.

In this episode, we discuss:

● Neurological factors of the interference effect

● The role of DOMS in the interference effect

● A decrease in endurance performance depends on the intensity required for that
session

● What resistance training variables to manipulate

● Organising your hybrid training throughout the week

● The use of pre-fatigue

● Is sub-optimal progress not a bad thing?

● Training for weightlifting and an Iron man distance triathlon

For the full episode click the link in bio

A big thank you to our production team .media and our sponsors &

NEW EPISODE - The molecular physiology of hybrid training - with Professor Keith Baar

One of the mechanisms for the interference effect when hybrid training is molecular signaling theory.

When activated by endurance exercise the AMPK pathway may inhibit the mTOR pathway, inhibiting strength and hypertrophy adaptations.

But what does this all mean?

In this episode, Professor Baar and discuss how these molecular pathways get activated, why endurance training might inhibit strength training adaptations, and how we can change our programming to reduce this.

We discuss:
● What is mTORC1 and AMPK?

● Factors which activate mTORC1 and AMPK

● The importance of leucine

● How long mTORC1 and AMPK stay activated post exercise

● Molecular breaks

● Difference between rats and human studies on concurrent training

● Untrained vs trained

● Practical recommendations for hybrid athletes

For the full episode, the link is in the bio

What do molecular pathways have to do with hybrid training?

People may have heard of terms such as AMPK and mTOR, but what is their role in the interference effect?

Can we manipulate training variables to reduce the interference effect coming from molecular pathways?

Tune in to the to find out more